6 Cylinder was six-piece band from Vancouver (BC) that formed in 1977. It’s members over the five years the band lasted into 1981 included Wayne Bassett played piano and fiddle, Lorne Burns played drums, Bob Poppowich played bass, Dan Smith played guitar, and Ian Berry played piano and saxophone. Wayne Bassett, Bob Popowich, Lorne Burns and Dan Smith had formerly been members of the Vancouver band Just What The Doctor Ordered. Former Nocturnals garage band member, Carl Erickson, played saxophone, flute and guitar.

In 1946 Louis Jordan and his Tympanny Five recorded “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”. It debuted on the Cashbox R&B singles chart at #3 on December 23. It spent four weeks at #1 in January 1947. But on the Billboard Race Record chart the song topped the charts for seventeen weeks. The song was recorded by numbers of other R&B singers.

6 Cylinder liked “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” and as it was a favorite in their live performances, they decided to do a cover and included it on their self-titled debut album in 1979. A single release soon followed.

“Ain’t Nobody here But Us Chickens” is a song written by Joan Whitney and Alex Kramer. Kramer was born in 1903 in Montreal. At age 17 he was hired as a pianist in a silent movie theater in Montreal. He traveled first to Palm Beach, Florida, joining the Meyer Davis orchestra, and then to Paris and Cannes, before returning to New York City, where he became a radio bandleader. He also worked as an accompanist in nightclubs and in vaudeville. One of his other musical activities was coaching vocalists in singing techniques. One of Alex Kramer’s students was Joan Whitney. She later became his wife and songwriting partner. Their first hit as a songwriting team was “High on a Windy Hill,” which in 1941 became the #43 song of the year for the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, and the #48 song of the year for Gene Krupa.

In 1941 Whitney and Kramer co-wrote “My Sister And I” with Hy Zarat which became a number one hit for In 1943 Whitney and Kramer co-wrote “It’s Love, It’s Love, It’s Love” with Mack David which became a number one hit for two weeks in 1944 for Guy Lombardo. In 1945 Whitney, Kramer and David co-wrote a song titled “Candy” that was recorded by Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers, featuring Jo Stafford. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard pop chart. In 1947 Kramer and Whitney co-wrote “Love Somebody” for Doris Day and Buddy Clark which ended up being the #16 song of the year. And in 1948 Kramer and Whitney wrote “Far Away Places” which became a #2 hit for Bing Crosby & The Ken Darby Choir. It was also a #3 hit for Margaret Whiting and a #6 hit for Perry Como.

Joan Whitney was born in 1914 with the given name of Zoe Parenteau. In 1934 she was a showgirl in the musical based on Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II titled The Great Waltz. At the time she took the stage name Joan Whitney. She died at the age of 76 of alzheimer’s in 1990. Alex Kramer died in February 1998 at the age of 94. He was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.

“Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” is a novelty song about what the chickens in the henhouse have to say to Farmer Brown when he disturbs them in the middle of the night. Farmer Brown hears a noise from the henhouse in the night as he is locking up the barnyard. The chickens tell the farmer that they’re trying to sleep. But his kicking up the dust in the barnyard, stomping around, shaking the ground and hobbling around is making it impossible. The chickens remind the farmer that in the morning they have ground to dig, worms to scratch, eggs to lay and chicks to hatch. They also ask the farmer to put his gun away.

“Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” by 6 Cylinder was a local hit on CKLG in Vancouver (BC) where it peaked at #9.

In 1980 Dan Smith and Lorne Burns left the band and were replaced by Geoff Hogg on guitar, and Peter Padden, a former member of the mid-sixties band from Victoria (BC) called The Coachmen, on drums.

6 Cylinder split up in 1981. Dan Smith, Bob Poppowich and Peter Padden formed an eight-piece band called Sweet Dick. Ian Berry went on to join The Wildroot Orchestra. He later became a session musician for John Lee Hooker and others. Berry died of lung cancer in 2008. Carl Erickson went on to play with the Cement City Cowboys and the Muddy Fraser Blues Band. Erickson has continued to perform in concert into the 2010s.